Cesafi men's volleyball UV outlasts USC in five-set thriller

CEBU, Philippines - The University of the Visayas (UV) spikers have had their fair share of scary moments as they grinded through a five-set thriller over the resilient University of San Carlos (USC) in the men’s division of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (CESAFI) volleyball tournament at the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) gym the other day.

The Jonathan Aves-mentored UV raced to a sizzling 8-1 start and parlayed it into a 25-21 in the opening set behind the efforts of team captain Jade Becaldo, Robie Vincent Estiola, Aldrin Dayday and Roland Suan.

USC of rookie coach Roderick Arenasa quickly made the necessary adjustments to bounce back in the second set in dominating fashion, 25-11, thanks to the devastating attacks of Kennith Bensig alongside Vincent Estrera, Dennis Sepulveda and Ryan Mark Abut.

Not to be outdone, the Visayanians lashed back at USC in the third frame, 25-22, but the stubborn Carolinians refused to roll down and just die, hacking out a 25-20 victory to forge a deciding fifth set.

The scenario in the rubbermatch was a spine-chiller. With UV at matchpoint, 14-13, USC’s Jerome Maestre made a costly error when his attack bounced out, thus, sealing UV’s precarious but exhilarating victory.

“I am so overwhelmed by our victory over USC knowing that they are one of the tough teams to beat. I just gave my trust to my players that they will strive hard and aim high to win in every game that we will have,” said Aves.

With the win, UV jumped to second place with a 3-1 slate behind the defending champion University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R), which stayed unbeaten in four starts.

“The game was really not meant for us. I would like to commend my players though for putting up a great fight against UV. We learned from that setback and we hope that we could make it up in our next games,” said Aranesa, whose team dropped to third with a 2-1 win-loss card.

In the other men’s games, USPF edged out the University of Cebu in four sets, 25-20, 25-23, 23-25, 25-16, while the Cebu Institute of Technology (CIT) finally barged into the win column at the expense of Cebu Doctors’ University (CDU), 25-9, 25-16, 25-14.

 .   (FREEMAN NEWS)